Håkansson, Otilia

Who carries the costs of regulatory changes within the financial markets? : a quantitative study from a shareholder's perspective (English)

Abstract [en]

As a consequence of a turbulent financial market with recurring recessions, the Basel regime was developed, an institutional change with the purpose to create enhanced financial stability through increased capital requirements and increased scrutiny of internal procedures. The Basel regime is an often recurring element in social debates where various aspects are discussed, one of which is whether it maintains its purpose to secure financial stability or whether it is cost effective, and if not, who gets affected by these potential costs.

The majority of previously conducted research within this area agrees with the opinion that changes in the regulatory framework within the financial markets, such as the Basel regime, has led to reduced risk of bankruptcy for the banks which has contributed to increased global financial stability. However, research illustrates that these types of changes in the regulatory framework impose a financial burden leading to contradictions in the division of these costs between costumers and shareholders. This dissertation has been conducted from a shareholders perspective, out of which the study ́s three hypothesis has been created from.

The data in this study is built upon the stock price from the three largest available banks’ shares (based on total assets), in the 26 countries which are represented in the Basel committee from (2007) to (2013). Calculations of the shares’ systematic risk (beta-value), return, and risk-adjusted return (Treynors ratio) throughout a period of time have been conducted in order to later be tested and lead to statistically significant results and thereby display whether the hypotheses were valid or not.

The result of the study indicated that the systematic risk of these shares have declined from (2007) to (2013), which is a confirmation that the Basel regime has fulfilled its purpose in reducing the risk within the banks. However, the study has not been able to show that the return or risk-adjusted return had been condensed, a result which suggests that it is not the banks’ shareholders who carries the costs for alterations of the regulations within financial markets.